Bridging To Our Next Era – After The Isolation

There is joy ahead! Trust me…

Lots of us are talking about when life returns to normal, or that this is “the new normal.” There is a bit of danger when we as leaders make a promise about a return to normal. The best selling management texts are all about change… not about being able to revert back to what our team calls ‘normal’.

Granted, we will all re-assume some practices that we were able to do in pre-isolation time, but my guess is that, like the little creek embankment in my video, after every flood, it doesn’t return to ‘normal’…it’s in a different shape, different condition. This is also true for your team. Here’s what you need to remember:

Use Enabling Joy as your bridge.

Joy is the opposite of fear, and there is ample fear that we need to eliminate.

I don’t have the magic crystal ball. Nobody does.

So, as you lead your team, put their hopes in what you are sure of – the human capacity to connect anew, to create creatively, to contribute to purpose.

Remember:  put faith and hope in people, not outcomes.

(Take a second and re-read that statement).

Don’t promise that the world will be all better, promise that you will be there with them, serving them. Don’t promise a return to normalcy, promise them that you will still be earnest and sincere is keeping them aware and ready for whatever is on the other end of that bridge.

Walk over the bridge first. Then reach back and give them a hand.

For me, this situation has reminded me of the fallacy of an old saying about ‘hope for the best, prepare for the worst.’
The saying should be ‘hope in the people’… because the best is in them; prepare to courageously serve, no matter the situation.”

And, we have, in all of this, seen hundreds of examples of folks doing just that.

I think we are calling them heroes.

Let me know your thoughts, and let’s keep the conversation going!